Chapter 9

Another spring had arrived in the land of the rising sun. What was different about this spring in particular was that there was a strange feeling in the atmosphere along with the late blooming cherry blossoms. It had been almost a decade since Yukimura Seiichi had died and the letters he wrote to the people he cared about were opened and read. This seemed to trigger a sudden, unplanned and eerily convenient meeting of the letter recipients. Among the people who would be there included Sayumi and Shiraishi, who were trying to make plans for the upcoming break.

"Kurarin, it's almost Golden Week! Where should we go?" Sayumi asked cheerfully as they walked down a stone path in the park.

"Is it? I barely noticed how fast time has passed." Shiraishi stopped to look up towards the cherry trees blooming in the warm, Osaka air. "The blossoms sure are late this year."

"Climate change?" she guessed.

"I guess so." He turned to address her. "Well, Sayumi-chan, should we go back to Yokohama this year? It's been almost seven years since I was last there."

Sayumi gave him a sad smile. "Yokohama? Did you want to go visit him?"

"W-well, I just want to go somewhere and watch the cherry blossoms bloom because we missed it happening here," he lied.

"Kurarin," she poked his chest, "you don't need to hide your intentions from your own girlfriend, you know?"

He sighed. "I suppose there is no use in hiding it from you."

"It would be nice to go back up. I haven't seen my parents in a while and they're dying to meet you." Sayumi continued to walk ahead of him. "And it would be nice to see him again. Even if he did break my heart all those years ago."

"I suppose it is strange to visit the man who broke both of our hearts," he chuckled. "Ne, Sayumi, are you sure you want to go? You don't have to if you don't want to-"

She shook her head. "It's time to stop running away from what happened, Kurarin. Don't you think ten years is enough time for a broken heart to heal?"

Shiraishi couldn't help but smile. He held out his hand for Sayumi to accept. "Let's go together then, shall we?"

She laced her fingers between his. "Yes, lets."

A few days later, they had arrived at the cemetery where everything started. A very strange gathering of familiar faces was beginning to form around the Yukimura family grave. Atobe, Tezuka, Echizen, Marui, Jackal, Yagyuu, Niou, Sanada, Mouri, Kirihara and Hinoka all looked around at the scene unfolding, each smiling or expressing amusement at the absurdity of it all. Yanagi was the only person sitting in front of the grave, unaware of the amount of people that were gathering behind him.

Shiraishi felt a shiver run down his spine. "Everyone is here despite no formal plans to meet up. How scary," he uttered under his breath.

"Is it fate or Seiichi who brought us together? Seems like everyone here got a letter from him all those years ago," Sayumi remarked. "Was this his plan all along?"

Atobe was the first to speak out of the group. "Oh? Yanagi, what a surprise to see you here."

Yanagi turned around to see that everyone had gathered around him as he was speaking to thin air. "Why is everyone here?" he asked.

"The same reason you're here, Renji-senpai," Sayumi answered. "You also felt compelled to come here, didn't you?"

"This holiday keeps getting stranger and stranger," Ryoma remarked. "Are we all done being sentimental now?"

Sanada extended his hand to Yanagi. "Echizen is right. It's time to move on."

Yanagi smiled as Sanada helped him off the ground. "Yes, it's time to move on."

As the group made their way out of the cemetery, Sayumi felt a tap on her shoulders, which caused her to turn around. It was none other than Mouri Jusaburou being his usual playful self. Shiraishi had also stopped to see what had caught his girlfriend's attention.

"Sayumi-chan, how about you dump Mr. Osaka over here and get back with me? Just like the good old days," Mouri joked.

"H-hey!" Shiraishi protested.

"I'm not sure Ochi-san would take kindly to me if you tried that, Jusaburou," she retorted. "You look well."

"You do as well. You look the best when you are smiling like that, Sayumi-chan. That Shiraishi is a very good match for you."

Her cheeks turned a bright pink "T-thank you, Jusaburou."

"Treat her well, Shiraishi, or I'll make you regret it," Mouri threatened in a nonchalant tone. "And I demand front row seats at the wedding, Sayumi-chan!"

The two stood as they watched Sayumi's ex-boyfriend walk away from the both of them to join the rest of the group. Both of them sighed in unison.

"Sorry you had to go through that. Don't take it seriously. Jusaburou is just... A little protective," she laughed nervously.

Shiraishi wrapped his arms around her and lightly kissed her nose. "Only a little? I guess I have him beat, since I'll never let you go, Sayumi."

"Oh really now?" She broke out of his embrace and started to run ahead and catch up with the rest of the group. "Too bad you'll need to catch me first!"

He laughed as he ran to catch up to her. "Wait up, Sayumi! I got something I need to ask you about."

She stopped in her tracks and turned right back around. "What could be so important that you're holding us up from everyone else?"

"Well," he pulled out a small box from his jacket pocket and handed it to her, "pretend to act surprised when we're far away from this place. Something about being in a graveyard makes me feel like this isn't something appropriate to do."

She fiddled with the box and opened it, revealing a simple silver ring with a smokey grey diamond as the distinguishing feature. "Kurarin!"

"Marry me, Sayumi. I never want to lose you again."

She jumped up and kissed him passionately on the lips.

He laughed. "I'll take it as a 'yes' then?"

She closed the box and handed it back to him. "Find out when you ask me in front of them." She grabbed a hold of his hand and started to drag him along. "We're falling behind. Let's go!"

What started off as a mutual one-sided love with a dead boy ended with them finding each other instead. For Shiraishi Kuranosuke and Hokama Sayumi, it caused their paths to cross and entangle in the messiest of ways before finally straightening out. No longer did they need to find a replacement for Yukimura Seiichi in their hearts. Death can bring the most unlikely of people together, even if it takes years down the road to see the results. Was this love a plan orchestrated by the same frail, feminine boy or something that was bound to happen naturally? No one could say for sure, except for the delicate pink petals that swirled around in the air every spring.

A/N: Well, that's the end of this one. I'm not sure how many more fics I'll write that are related to Lost in Thoughts, but there will be another one eventually.